Spain has recorded its first case of a baby born with the microcephaly birth defect associated to the Zika virus, health authorities said today.
Microcephaly is a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies.
A spokeswoman for the regional health authorities of Catalonia, where the baby was born, told Reuters that the mother had been diagnosed with the virus in May and had decided to keep the baby.
New York City reported its first case of a baby born with the birth defect microcephaly related to exposure to the Zika virus on Friday.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 babies have been born in the US with Zika-related birth defects. Some babies with no immediate signs of problems also have been born in the US to Zika-infected mothers.
The virus has three known paths of infection: sexual contact, pregnancy, or a mosquito bite, although a recent case in the US has made researchers question whether or not we know exactly how Zika can spread.
Dr Tom Frieden, director of the CDC confirmed in April that the rise in cases of Zika in pregnant women, and babies being born with abnormally small heads and brains meant that there was enough evidence for the confirm the link between the virus and the defect.
"There is no longer any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly," he said.
Dr Frieden pointed out that never before in history has a bite from a mosquito been seen as the cause of birth defects.
Signs of Zika have been found in the brain tissue, spinal fluid and amniotic fluid of microcephaly babies.
